Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Reader Survey: Favorite Ancient Inscription

We’re heading indoors for this survey, for when an artifact is discovered, particularly one with writing on it, the archaeologist removes it from the site and it usually ends up displayed in a museum.

This survey may be a little more challenging for some of you, because you can’t just open up your Bible and flip around. Instead you need to retrace your steps in the Israel Museum or the British Museum or some other renowned institution. If you can’t do that, you may recall learning about various inscriptions from a tour guide, professor, or pastor. You have many choices, and there are a number of books dedicated almost solely to inscriptions with biblical relevance (including those by McCarter, Fant and Reddish, Hallo and Younger, and Hays).

There are some great possibilities and I look forward to seeing what you pick! Just remember to limit your selection to an inscription—perhaps another time we’ll have a survey for favorite artifacts without writing.